Birdies
by DragonJade
Summary: AU: Skye and Hunter are mercenaries, hired to help S.H.I.E.L.D with a heist and break into QuinnTech. Soon, Hunter notices Skye growing close to the other agents, particularly one Grant Ward. Rated T for violence


_**Disclaimer: I do not own Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D or it's characters. All rights belong to Marvel and MCU.**_

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 _"Try to run, Try to hide, But I know you're memory won't set me free"_

 _Why Won't You- Brett Kissel_

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He saw it happening. He was there when it started, and he was there when it ended. It wasn't uncommon for mercenaries to be working in government agencies, but it was uncommon for loyalties to develop, which is what happened to Skye. They had been offered three million dollars each, half on location, half at the completion of the mission. Obviously, Hunter and Skye accepted.

He had begun to sense Skye's loyalties developing after a week of working in S.H.I.E.L.D. They poured over maps and building plans, trying to find entrances, abandoned passages and tunnels, elevators, air vents, breaker boxes, and anything else that would help them break into QuinnTech. When their shift was over, Hunter would wrap up his equipment and go back to the bunk S.H.I.E.L.D had given him. Skye's bunk was beside his, but it was almost always empty. He would get up to go look for her, always finding her standing at the table, still mapping out possible entrances and exits. They never did that. Usually when the sun left for the day, so did they.

"Go to bed, Skye," he would say, "You can help the birdies with their little adventure again tomorrow."

She would shake her head, not looking up. "Yeah, in a bit. I think there might another tunnel in the basement, though. I'll go to bed once I figure out where it goes."

S.H.E.I.L.D didn't tell them what they were going to steal. Apparently it was "Need Know" only, and Hunter and Skye were only there because they didn't care about breaking laws that, as government agents, S.H.I.E.L.D couldn't break. This didn't bother them. They were only in it for the money. Or Hunter was, at least.

After the first night Hunter had found Skye pouring over maps, she began socializing with the other S.H.I.E.L.D agents, which was something else they never did. Normally they kept to themselves, never speaking to anyone unless it was about the task at hand. They were mercenaries. Cold, selfish, without any ties or loyalties to their employer. The only thing keeping them from walking out was a big fat case full of cash, but now at breakfast, Skye was always talking to someone. Sometimes it was Fitz, sometimes Jemma, normally both at once, and occasionally she would pester May about useless nonsense that would cause the older woman to leave the table with her mug of tea in hand. Coulson and Ward were also usuals, but from watching her body language, Hunter assumed that Ward was more than just one of her "friendly associates." She seemed to go out of her way to talk to him, or bump into him in the narrow hallways of S.H.I.E.L.D. Hunter tried to keep in mind that she could be trying to get information, seeing as they knew Ward was one of the "Need Know" agents. At least until he saw her kiss him outside her room. He knew it wasn't just any kiss. It was the same way she used to kiss him, and it hurt. It hurt that she would kiss anyone else but him. It hurt that she would kiss anyone else with him around. It hurt, but he pushed the hurt away, because when he kissed her back, she smiled and put her hands in his hair, just like she used to do to him. He made her happy, and that was all Hunter needed.

Weeks of memorizing passages and tunnels came to an end. Soon they were putting on protective vests, arming themselves with handguns and knives, and being briefed on the mission. Get in, hack the QuinnTech security system, get the weapon (apparently they were stealing a weapon) and get out.

Don't. Get. Caught.

They entered from one of the water drains. It was easy enough. No alarms went off, no one stopped them. Within minutes, they were in front of a sealed metal door with a security pad. Skye pushed her way to the front of the group, and began typing letters and symbols into the keypad. A few seconds later, she took out a tablet with a cord attached, ripped open the panel, plugged the cord into the outlet, and started typing to override to security passcode. Within minutes, the door slid open, and they were standing in a dark room in front of a giant, black, high security vault. Skye raised her gun and shot two guards that were guarding the vault. The muffled sound from the silencer seemed to echo off the silent walls like an explosion, but Hunter knew that no one would hear it. At this time, the other hallways were deserted. They made sure of it.

They stepped over the bodies and Hunter went straight to the dial in the vault. Turning the knob slowly with his ear pressed against the door, he waited for the slightest difference in click, which never came. He dug out his tools from a black duffel bag with the symbol of an eagle on it, and carefully drilled a hole in the vault's metal door, then put a small camera inside so that he could see what he was doing. Suddenly a gun went off. Someone behind him cried out, and Hunter heard a body fall to the ground. _Extra security,_ he thought. Maybe they hadn't planned as well as he thought, but he couldn't turn around. if he moved even slightly in the wrong direction, the vault would bar itself closed and there would be no getting inside. As he worked, he heard more guns going off, and more cried as bodies fell to the ground. Soon, the door swung open. He fumbled for the gun on his belt and as he turned around a shot rang thought the air. Hunter felt a pain in his chest, like he was being crushed. There was blood. So much blood, everywhere. Skye was on her knees, with Ward holding a gun to her head, her eyes wide with tears, screaming his name as he fell to the ground.

"Please, Grant," she begged, "please!" Tears fell down her face.

Ward squeezed his eyes shut, letting a single tear fall, holding back the rest. "I'm sorry, Skye," he said in a small, strangled voice, "but you're a weakness." He pulled the trigger, and Skye fell silent. As Hunter's vision started to fade, he saw Agent Grant Ward step over his body, reach into the vault, and draw out a single glowing orb, no bigger than a golf ball. The glow grew dimmer and dimmer, until everything went black.

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 **So this is a short little one-shot I wrote for my English class with the subject of betrayal (we had a two page limit). Obviously, I changed names (Hunter was Chase, Skye was Tianna, S.H.E.I.L.D was S.P.A.R.R.O.W for Strategies in Paranormal and Alien Reinforcement, Regional Or Worldly, Ward was Sawyer, QuinnTech was LynTech, ect). Got full marks on it, so that's good, right?**

 **So yeah, so Letters I Never Sent is not going too great, but I'm still going to be updating it, only not frequently. Feel free to unfollow if that doesn't go over well with you. I do promise to finish it though, if you have ten years haha (I really hope it doesn't take that long).**

 **So until next time, you guys! Good luck with exams!**

 **Follow, Favourite, Review!**

 **\- DragonJade**


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